Week four of training for the Goofy challenge brought Dennis and I to Florida, since we were honeymooning in Disney World!
I mean, are any of you surprised by this?
We were staying at the beach club resort, tucked away just behind Epcot, with one of my favorite running trails on Disney property, so of course I managed to sneak in a few training runs during the week, when Dennis was opting to sleep in.
On day three of our honeymoon, I got up a little earlier than I needed to to get out and run. I had finally gotten used to the nice, fall weather in NY, and Florida was a little bit of a rude awakening, still warn and humid.
Den and I had reservation at Le Cellier in Epcot at 11:15, so I figured I would get some miles in and let him sleep. I had 7-8 miles on my schedule that were meant to be speedwork intervals, but I decided to take them easy and save the speed work for the wine and dine 10k, which I would be running on Saturday.
So I laced up and began running loops- around the board walk, then to Hollywood studios and back. At first it wasn’t too hot out, but as the sun rose higher into the sky, the air got thicker and I was glad that I had used my inhaler that morning.
There is a ton of construction going on near the entrance to Hollywood studios due to the new gondola system, so I wasn’t able to run all the way to the front gate like I usually do when running in the area of this resort. Instead, I turned around when I reached the construction fences, as it was too crowded to continue to the bus area. I was feeling good on this run, and it was my first run since getting married! It was nice to not feel stressed out about the wedding while running, for the first time in a long time. As I finished a loop I was just at 6 miles, and considered calling it a day, but committed to finishing the full distance, and got in one last loop.
I was sweaty and happy as I finished this run, glad that I can finally focus on running again now, without having to make as many sacrifices for other things that are going on in my life. Plus, I knew I had a yummy lunch ahead of me at Epcot, so that was a mood booster in and of itself.
On Halloween Den and I had tickets to a nightmare before Christmas Halloween party at the Edison in Disney springs, so it was a late night for us. We had a great time though, and I even won a nightmare before Christmas vinyl in the costume contest they hosted, for placing in the top 10!
We didn’t set any alarms Thursday morning, since both of us wanted a chance to sleep in - and we were rather successful! I didn’t wake up until 10:30, and I honestly can’t tell you the last time I managed to sleep in that late. Den was still fast asleep, so I took this as an opportunity to get the run in that my schedule called for - 4 miles. The weather wasn’t too bad, which was a relief. High 70s and low humidity.
The disadvantage of running this late? Lots of foot traffic on the boardwalk. But all in all it was still a good run. I had a podcast to listen to - the wine and dine preview from not real runners - and just settled into a easy pace and got moving. At first my body was a little hesitant to be out there, but I told myself that if I wanted to stop after one loop, I could, but I needed to get through at least one loop.
But sure enough, once I was through one loop I had found a groove, and was enjoying my podcast enough to keep moving forward. I was listening to the wine and dine preview episode that not real runners released a week before the event, and I hadn’t found the time to listen to.
The loops slipped away and I reversed the last one to keep the run to 4 miles. When I was done I was once again very sweaty (thanks, Florida), and very happy to hop in the shower. The plan for Thursday? A quick trip into Epcot to grab some lunch and our annual pass holder cutting boards, then we would head over to the race expo!
The rest of my honeymoon running was in the form of races, so make sure to check back later this week to read my recap of the wine and dine 10k.